


hand in unloveable hand

by funkymoths



Category: Archive 81 (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, and by we I mean me, dan and Marc I’m sorry, listen the dude’s made of static he hasn’t had a real hug in a hot sec, mentions of Pokemon Go, this is just the static man gets a body fic we’ve all been needing, touch starvation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 05:57:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19312027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funkymoths/pseuds/funkymoths
Summary: static man gets a body





	hand in unloveable hand

For a moment, Static Man wasn’t sure if the ritual had worked. He didn’t feel any different. 

“Static man?” Nick steps forward. “Did it work?” He and Morgan look tired, the ritual had been tedious, from the bits and pieces he remembered. They were stained with blood,  some of it the virgin blood required for the ritual, some of it their own.

 

“I think so?” Static Man looks down at his hands, his  _ honest to god, flesh and blood _ hands. He glances up at Nick, grinning like an idiot. Nicholas smiles weakly. He’s tired, but Static Man can see the joy in his eyes. From behind Nick, Morgan gives Static Man two thumbs up. “Thank you guys so much. Like, seriously. I probably owe you a life debt, or something.”

 

“Don’t mention it.” Morgan says, shrugging. “I only built you a new body completely from scratch. It’s no big deal.” Nick chuckles. Morgan dusts off her blood splattered jeans. “I’m going to lie down. You two hepcats have fun, or whatever.” She pulls on her jacket, retreating into the office. Nick’s apartment was small, but Morgan had claimed the cramped office as her own space.

 

Nicholas takes another step forward, entering the chalk ritual circle. He places a hand on Static Man's shoulder, carefully, as though he was afraid Static Man would dissolve into static again. It’s a simple touch, but the pressure of Nicholas’s hand is comforting, and Static Man realizes he hasn’t had human contact,  _ real _ human contact, for years. He practically  _ melts.  _

 

“Your teeth. They’re, uh,” Nick tilts his head in that way he always did when he was trying to figure something out. Static Man runs his teeth over them,  _ god it’s weird having human teeth  _ he thinks, and finds his top incisors deadly sharp.

 

“I guess that’s just a souvenir from being a teeth-ghost, or whatever.” Static Man laughs. “I always was a Team Edward kind of guy anyways.”

 

“Arthur, I…” Nicholas starts.  _ Arthur. That was his name now, wasn’t it?  _ Without warning, Nicholas wraps Arthur in a hug. He’s not good at hugging, objectively. His movements are jerky and awkward, and he clearly doesn’t know what to do with his arms. 

 

It’s comforting.

 

The two of them stand there for a moment, still in the chalk circle. Arthur wants to say something, but his mouth can’t form the words.  _ What would he even say? _

 

So he just sort of stutters, “Uh, thank you. For not breaking your promise.”

 

“Of course,” Nick says, still hugging Arthur awkwardly. He pulls back, releasing his tight grip and allowing Arthur to breathe again. “You’re crying” Nick points out. Arthur clumsily wipes the tears from his eyes; he hadn’t even realized he was crying.

 

“There’s so many things I’m gonna be able to do now!” Arthur blurted out, breaking the silence. “I can finally play Pokémon go!” Nicholas laughs.

 

“You finally have a physical form and the first thing you think about is  _ Pokémon _ ?”

 

“That wasn’t the  _ only  _ thing.”

 

“Oh yeah? What else was on your ‘things to do when I get a body’ list?” 

 

“This.”

 

Arthur places a hand on the side of Nick’s face, and pulls him into a soft kiss. Nick kisses him back, and suddenly Arthur is thirteen again, having his first kiss at the school musical cast party. All the time and effort spent remaking Arthur’s body, this moment made it all worth it. 

 

“You could’ve done that earlier.” Nick points out, casually running a hand through Arthur’s hair. “Why didn’t you?”

  
  


“Dude. I didn’t have a mouth. Or a face.” Arthur squints at him. “I was literally just static and teeth.”

 

Nick shrugs. “Semantics,” he says.

 

Arthur’s eyes were still adjusting to having a physical form. Before, it was like he was watching everything through a haze, unable to see things clearly or accurately. Having a body again was like wearing glasses for the first time. You didn’t realize how blurry everything was before, but once you knew how clear things would be, you’d never go back. 

 

And Arthur was never going back

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from No Children by the mountain goats!  
> You can find me on tumblr @units214!
> 
> Also shoutout to everyone on the a69 discord. Gick rights


End file.
